Peter Hal Oakley (born June 28, 1949) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

best known for winning the 2004

Senior British Open The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship. Pr ...

, one of the major championships in senior men's professional golf. He is the younger brother of golfer

David Oakley David K. Oakley (April 27, 1945 – July 2, 2006) was an American professional golfer whose greatest success came on the European Seniors Tour. Oakley was born in New York (state), New York, but grew up in Panama City, Florida. He got started in ...

Early life

Oakley was born in

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn Ha ...

. He got started in the game at age 11 by his mother, who thought a nearby nine-hole course would be a great babysitter for him and his brother David.

Professional career

Oakley was a long-time club pro in the Philadelphia-Delaware area where he won numerous sectional titles including the Delaware State Open six times and the

Shawnee Open The Shawnee Open is a golf tournament that was first held in 1912. It is played at The Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort in Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The couse was completed in 1911, the first ever design by renowned architect A. ...

six times. He played some on the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental golf tour, tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at tha ...

in his forties to prepare himself for the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

. The biggest win of his career was his first on the Champions Tour, and came in a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

– The

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

played at

Royal Portrush Golf Club Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The 36-hole club has two links courses, the Dunluce Links (the championship course) and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of the Op ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Oakley sank a 10-foot par putt on the final hole to win by one stroke and avoid a playoff with

Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He won the U.S. Open in 1992 and spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994. Career Kite wa ...

and

Eduardo Romero Eduardo Alejandro Romero (17 July 1954 – 13 February 2022) was an Argentine professional golfer. Nicknamed "El Gato" ("The Cat"), he won over 80 professional tournaments around the world, including eight on the European Tour and five on the Cha ...

. The victory made him only the 10th open qualifier to win a Champions Tour event. In 2008, he had his best season since 2004, when he finished fifth in the Russian Seniors Open en route to ending the year 29th in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

European Senior Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

Order Of Merit.

Awards, private life

At the end of the season after his 2004 Senior British Open triumph, Oakley was awarded

2004 European Seniors Tour The 2004 European Seniors Tour was the 13th season of the European Seniors Tour, the professional golf tour for men aged 50 and above operated by the PGA European Tour. Tournament results The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the ...

Rookie of the Year. Oakley was awarded the Player of the Year for the Philadelphia Section of the PGA of America in 1980, 1984, 1999 and 2000. His wife has caddied for him in professional tournaments. His son's, Zachary (Zac) and Jeremy Joseph (J.J.), are also golfers. Zac was a three-time All-American at Wesley College, and J.J. played at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. Oakley is a man of strong religious faith. He formerly lived in

Lincoln, Delaware Lincoln (originally Lincoln City) is an unincorporated community in northern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The planner who originally laid out the town plann ...

and has moved to

Palm City Palm City is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 25,883 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Palm City is i ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Oakley has done some

golf course design A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". The ...

work. In 2001, he completed and opened (with partner Chris Adkins) a public course in

Milton, Delaware Milton is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States, on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is located on the Broadkill River, which empties into Delaware Bay. The population was 2,576 at the 2010 census, an increase of 55.5% over the previous dec ...

, called ''The Rookery Golf Club''.

Professional wins (17)

Regular career wins (14)

*1980 Delaware State Open,

*1983

*1984

*1986 Delaware State Open,

*1987 Delaware State Open *1989

Philadelphia Open Championship The Philadelphia Open Championship is an annual golf tournament played in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. It is organized by the Golf Association of Philadelphia. It has been played annually since 1903 (except for war years & 2020) at member c ...

, Delaware State Open *1990

*1995 Delaware State Open *1998

*1999

*2000 Delaware State Open

Champions Tour wins (1)

Other senior wins (2)

*1999 PGA Senior Club Pro Championship *2000 PGA Senior Stroke Play Championship

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the halfway cut
''Note: Oakley never played in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

.''

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

U.S. national team appearances

PGA Cup The PGA Cup is a men's golf competition for club professionals played between a Great Britain and Ireland team and a United States team. The winning team is presented with the Llandudno Trophy. The competition is run by the British PGA and the PG ...

: 1994 (winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakley, Pete American male golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of senior major golf championships Golf course architects Golfers from Florida Golfers from Delaware People from Panama City, Florida People from Sussex County, Delaware 1949 births Living people